Political gladiators in Oyo State have been charged to consider the yearnings of the people of Oke Ogun Area agitating for the ceding of the governorship seat to oke ogun region with a view to enhancing rapid development.
The remark was in line with the thoughts of members of the Pioneer Movement Iseyin, PMI,who spoke at the 2025 PMI Week /Public Lecture Scholarship Teachers Awards held in Iseyin City Hall, Iseyin Local Government Council.
The PMI President Pioneer Kayode Adelere, the Vice President who doubles as the Chairman Organizing Committee, Pioneer Salami Olatunji and Pioneer Abolaji Musediq Salami gave the charge while speaking on the theme: Oke Ogun Affairs; Matters Arising.
The trio noted that the essence of the theme was to galvanize the thoughts of the discussants on issues relating to the development of Oke Ogun Area and to enlighten the gathering on educational development, security and job opportunities for the overall development of the region.
The speakers in their views said it is imperative for the political leaders and the entire people of Oke Ogun to speak with one voice, saying the development of oke ogun should be paramount than individual’s interest.
The trio opined that the PMI; a non governmental organization and non political can not fold its arms and feel unconcerned, hence the need to lend credence to the agitation of zoning governorship seat to oke ogun region.
According to the speakers, the issue of state creation has been a major concern to the people of oke ogun which has not been achieved so far and as such it is imperative for the domineering region to ceded the governorship seat to oke ogun in the spirit of fairness and justice.
They stressed that members of Pioneer Movement Iseyin are not interested in politics but saddled with the overall development of oke ogun as a whole.
While charging political actors and elites from oke ogun to galvanize themselves and shun any form of disunity which according to them is counter productive, the speakers charged Oke Ogun indigenes to shun divisive tendencies.
Pioneer Tunji Salami and Pioneer Abolaji Musediq while speaking on the issue of education and security, commended Gov Seyi Makinde for his commitment to educational development with the establishment of LAUTECH satellite campus in Iseyin and the establishment of Federal University of Agriculture and Technology in Okeho by the federal government.
They noted that education and development are sine qua non and as such,development is a catalyst for community and regional advancement.
While speaking on the challenges of insecurity bedeviling the society, the duo admonished the government to engage the traditional rulers at the grassroot to play active role in securing their domains as partners in progress.
They opined that traditional rulers are in position to provide prompt intelligence to security agencies which will assist in tackling insecurity.
In her goodwill message , wife of a pioneer member Mrs Temitope Ashiru, while congratulating the association on the auspicious occasion, called for women participation in community engagement to develop Iseyin land. She urged women of substance in Iseyin to replicate the programmes of PMI and key into the objectives of the body to achieve unprecedented development in the ancient town.
Speaking on the core values of the association, the President Pioneer Kayode Adelere who is running his second and the last tenure, stressed that PMI is committed to educational and socio- economic development for the indigents but brilliant students in Iseyin and its environs to prevent youths from engaging in socio vices and restiveness.
The President, Pioneer Kayode said in recognition of the contributions of one of their members who had gone to the great beyond,a football competition tagged: Pioneer Ajibike Bisiriyu Football Competition was organised for the youths in order to channel their energy positively and develop football skills for possible career development.
The 2025 PMI Week featured a final football match between Ifelodun FC and Atorise FC which resulted in one goal to zero in favour of Ifelodun football team.
The winner, Ifelodun FC went home with the trophy and a cash award while Atorise FC also received cash reward in appreciation of their skills.
The highlight of the final event was the presentation of scholarship award to deserving students at various levels and meritorious awards to outstanding teachers.
Various students with exceptional academic performances were rewarded with different cash prizes which cut across over thirty categories.
Exceptional students at different levels such as secondary school students, undergraduates in tertiary institutions, post graduate students went home with various cash prizes, ranging from #50,000, #100,000 and #200,000 respectively.
Artisans were also empowered courtesy of Pioneer Rasaq Asaju as part of capacity building and human development.
Physically challenged students with remarkable academic performance were also not left out.
Many outstanding Iseyin indigenes,who are currently studying different courses at various tertiary institutions across the country benefited from the scholarship awards.
The most remarkable recipient was Miss Ariwoola Bilikisu Adepeju, a 200 level student of Medicine and Surgery at LAUTECH, who obtained a CGPA of 5.0; the highest aggregate point possible. She was awarded a cash prize of #200,000 courtesy of PMI and another #100,000 from Senator Fatai Buhari ably represented by Hon Wasiu Azuzu.
Hon Azuzu in his views admonished politicians irrespective of their party affiliations to change their mindset and work assiduously for the progress of oke ogun.
He also charged youths across oke ogun to be vanguard of change .
The Special Guest of Honour at the occasion, Alhaji Lukmon Omolumo who applauded all members of PMI for sustaining the scholarship awards for many decades, charged the Pioneer Movement to inculcate additional global skills which are applicable in the 21st century beyond school grades into its programmes.
According to him, introduction of soft skills such as Effective Communication, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Problem Solving Skills and Career talk will equip youths and give them the ability to compete favourably with their peers across the globe.
Impressed by the remarkable performance of many students from Anwaru Islam High School Iseyin, Alhaji Omolumo rewarded all the teachers of the school with a cash gift of #250,000.
Report By
Kaseem Jenrade and Ajibola Olagunju